TDA thanks all the local officials, business people, farmers and others who participated in the regional meetings. There were between 50-70 attendees at each meeting, and the media coverage was great. Please see the coverage to date below:

The condition of Wisconsin’s roads affects the bottom line for both businesses and households.

According to a recently released report by TRIP, a national transportation research group, the cost of Wisconsin’s poor roads is $6 billion a year due to higher vehicle operating costs, traffic crashes and congestion-related delays. This equates to roughly $2,100 per driver in the state’s largest cities.

Please take action now! Forward this important information to the governor and your legislators and urge them to work together to find a long-term, sustainable funding strategy for Wisconsin transportation.

Check out the Just Fix It Gallery

On the TDA websiteandFacebook page, the Just Fix It Gallery highlights the deteriorating condition of transportation infrastructure around the state.

Each week, one item is featured as part of #FixitFriday.A structurally deficient bridge on Mill Street in the Town of Lyons wasin the spotlightlast week.

News

Sheboygan County Floats Plan to Implement .5% Sales Tax for Roads

Sheboygan County officials are considering implementing a 0.5 percent sales tax to help fund road and bridge maintenance within the county. It is estimated the sales tax would bring in approximately $9.5 million a year.

The county maintains 450 miles of roads and 73 bridges. Officials estimate 30 miles of road need to be paved each year, but only approximately 18 miles per year have been paved in recent years as a result of insufficient resources.

The state allows counties to introduce a .5 percent sales tax for property tax reduction. Sixty-two of 72 counties in Wisconsin have implemented the additional sales tax.
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Senate Approves FAA Reauthorization Bill

The Senate passed a bill reauthorizing Federal Aviation Administration programs through Sept. 30, 2017, and unlike a House committee measure, the Senate version steered clear of the controversial plan to privatize air traffic control.

Senators voted 95 to 3 for the
bill which would increase authorized funding for the Airport Improvement Program (AIP) by $400 million to an annual level of $3.75 billion and streamline the application process for Passenger Facility Charges (PFC). It did not authorize individual airports to increase their local passenger facility charges to help finance capital improvements, as the airport industry wanted.

The current extension of FAA programs expires July 15th.

FASTLANE Grant Requests Greatly Exceed Funds Available

The first year of the new freight-related grants, known as
FASTLANE grants, under the five-year FAST Act has seen project sponsors seek nearly $9.8 billion in funding. This compares to the 2016 grant pool of only $800 million.

This grant program differs from the USDOT's annual TIGER infrastructure grants in that the FASTLANE money comes from the highway account of the Highway Trust Fund, while TIGER awards are paid out of general funds. In addition, the FASTLANE program is focused on highway and multimodal projects that will improve the movement of goods across the country.

The department received 212 applications – 136 for projects in urban areas and 76 rural projects.